I need playing tips/help/something!

[Deelightful]

For those of you who follow my Pepper legacy story, you know that my family currently consists of 2 adult sims, 1 child, 1 toddler, 2 adult dogs and 2 puppies.

I am FREAKING OUT! I find the whole thing so horribly overwhelming that I haven't opened my game in three days.

I chose to let my sims and pets go about their day, letting them do whatever they wanted. But they're EVERYWHERE and I can't keep up. I'm so busy following them around from room to room that I forget to take pictures. Toddlers screaming out their lungs because of starvation and dirty diapers. Puppy pee everywhere.

How are you supposed to keep track of all of them? Do you start a sim day and decide to focus on just the one sim or pet? How do you decide what to take pictures of?

I feel like starting over with a single parent who has just the one child and no pets.

[lorenrose1013]

What I do is I pause the game (often) and check up on what everyone is doing. If they're doing something interesting, or they're about to, make a mental note and take a picture

[Hellfrozeover]

I control my sims more. I let them do their own thing to an extent but really...they're stupid so sometimes they have to be told to feed the baby or go pee. I find it easier that way

[Ninoo]

When I have too many sims I always take advantage of rabbit holes and skills. Send Pepper to the spa, she should stay there for some hours, then tell the dad to feed the kids, fill the pets bowls, leave the pets alone, they are smart. When everyone have eaten put something "group" activity: like the cubes for the babies, the dad can skill with a book or any action that you can cancel, not him automatically (like watch tv).

I tend to pause a lot, and never let any sim doing something unless I told them. It's an habit now, I can manage 8 sims without any problem, just pausing a lot and check if everyone is happy. And the ultimate life saver: testingcheats enabled and drag whatever need bar you want, you can also shift click on the mailbox every morning and make everyone happy, to breathe a little

[Deelightful]

Oh yes, I'm abusing the hell out of MC's "max motives"!

The rabbithole tip is a good one. And the child will soon go to school so that's one less during the day as well.

[Ninoo]

And with generations you can send them to after school activities, boarding school when they are teens!

[Cloudwalker]

I always play with 'all happy' for the day, turn it off a night, drag their bars over and send them all to bed except ones I want to poke.

And with cheats enabled you can always drag the need bars over at any time (and I right click off moodlets that annoy me... no, you don't have fleas, no, you don't need to pee, etc.

[ATS Sandy]

I have never had any puppy yet, so I'm not experienced in the pee!
When I have many Sims in a household, I often focus on one or two. For example, you stay with the toddlers to be sure they have what they need. Follow the parent who is with them. When the kids have a nap or have just been changed or eaten, ie when they won't need you for a while, then switch to the Sims you weren't following.
If you're stuck with the toddlers, you can pause the game and check where everyone is and what they're doing in, and take pictures if you want to.

[Deelightful]

Boarding school! Awesome!

And I know I could have given the puppies away for adoption but it made me sad just thinking about it so I didn't. I'm such a softie.

[ATS Sandy]

When theyre kids or teens, things will be easier. Also more interesting. Kids and teens can be really fun to play.